Chapter-13|Nightly encounters

Suddenly, he heard a soldier communicating with the assassin.

The soldier asked, "Lord Steller, what are you doing here so late at night?"

Mark quietly observed both of them. The assassin replied, "I was given the task to take care of someone tonight..."

Mark wondered if he was ordered to kill him. The soldier asked, "Who?"

Steller (the assassin) replied, "Someone witnessed the incident that took place five days ago."

Mark scoffed and jumped in front of them with his sword drawn. Both the soldier and Steller kneeled to the ground and screamed together, "My lord!!"

Mark laughed sarcastically. "You guys want to kill me?"

Steller, flabbergasted, asked, "What are you talking about, my lord?"

Mark laughed again and replied, "I heard everything you two talked about."

Steller slowly stood up and bowed. "My lord, you have misunderstood what we were talking about..."

Mark replied, "You think you can fool me?" He slowly put his sword to Steller's neck.

Steller replied, "My lord, no one told you about it?"

Mark asked sarcastically, "About what?"

Steller replied, "My lord, the day you left the palace in anger, Master Jake murdered a few of the soldiers inside the palace, suspecting them of seeing what happened with you."

Mark held his sword more tightly. "You know what happened that day?"

Steller replied, "No, my lord! We asked Master Jake, but he denied telling us about it."

Mark scoffed and said angrily, "You want me to believe that?"

Steller slowly kneeled down. "You can behead me right now if you don't believe me..."

Mark scoffed again. "Do you think I can't do that?"

Steller chuckled. "I know you surely can, my lord."

Mark scoffed and wondered if this guy was playing with him. "It'd be no fun to kill him right now..." Mark thought a little and then he pulled back his sword and replied, "Alright, go to your chamber. Don't roam around at night."

Steller bowed and replied sarcastically, "I am okay, my lord. Rather, you should stay in your chamber..."

Mark scoffed and walked off. After a little walk, he came back to his chamber. Steve was still sleeping, so he went and lay back down in his bed. After he lay back down, Steve suddenly said in a sleepy voice, "Where have you been, my lord?"

Mark chuckled and replied, "I went for a little walk. Did I wake you up?"

Steve replied, "No-o, my lord! Please go back to your sleep. You gotta go to the forest tomorrow early in the morning."

Mark nodded and went back to sleep.

The next morning...

Mark woke up, yawned, and looked at Steve. He was still sleeping. Mark wondered, "He must be tired. After all, I made an unreasonable wound on his body," he scoffed and got up to take a bath. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door.

"My lord!" Nick opened the door.

Mark signed him to keep quiet since Steve was sleeping. "Shhh!" Mark said in a low tone.

Mark looked at the cat; she was sleeping too. He quietly left the room to take a bath. After a warm bath, Mark came back to his chamber. Steve was not there.

"Where is Steve?" asked Mark to Nick.

Nick replied, "He went to prepare tea for you, my lord."

Mark smiled and asked, "Right after he woke up?"

Nick nodded.

Mark shrugged. "I wanted to leave early, but I guess we'll wait till he comes back."

Mark sat down on his bed comfortably, while Nick was playing with the cute cat.

"Has she recovered a little?" Mark asked.

Nick replied, "While you were bathing, the royal doctor came and applied the herbs to the cat's wound."

Mark smiled and said, "That's great."

After a while, Steve came back with the tea. "Here is your neem tea, my lord," said Steve.

Mark smiled, picked up the tea, smelled it, and said, "Hmm, it smells great." He took a little sip—it was utterly bitter. He spat the tea out and said, "Ughhh—it's so bitter! What is this...?"

"It's neem tea, my lord. It'll help your wounds heal sooner."

Mark got up. "I still won't drink it... it's too bitter to tolerate."

Steve nodded. "Alright, my lord. You should leave for the forest then to come back before lunch". "You rest here, Steve." said Mark.

Mark got up and came out of the room with Nick.